Tess Gerritsen Fans discussion
Author Interview
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November 2016 Q&A With Tess Gerritsen
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I'm impressed with Tess Gerritsen's willingness to respond to our fan questions :-) She is a good person with a kind heart and a brilliant imagination. I would love to see Tess comment in the group occasionally - it's been a while.
Mod
Thanks for the Q&A. Always nice to hear what a preferred writer thinks and take a peek into her mind.
Thank you for providing this content, I love learning new things about my favourite authors :-) will there be more in the future?
Mod
To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what else I'd like to see, I guess I was just curious :-) I'll probably comment here again when I think of something.
1. On average, how long does it take to write a novel?
About a year. It depends on whether I'm under a contracted deadline, which tends to speed me up. Without a deadline, I'm happy to take two, even three years to write a book.
2. Did you ever consider using your initials instead of your full name in order to get more sales?
(I've heard that by making the name and gender anonymous, more people are likely to buy the book).
There've been times when I did consider that strategy. For instance, with my SF space novel Gravity, which seemed to appeal more to male readers than to females, I might have been helped by hiding my gender behind initials. (I've heard many a male reader tell me that that they don't trust female writers to get high-tech details right. Arghh.) I've never tried hiding my identity under a pen name, but I just might try it for my next novel, which is completely different from anything I've done before.
3. Does writing help you relax or make you stressed?
Writing is very much work for me, which means it's often stressful. Especially when I'm having trouble moving a story forward.
4. If you could swap lives with any of your characters for a day, who would you be and why?
I'd feel most comfortable swapping lives with Maura Isles because she's so much like me. Using science to solve mysteries would be right up my alley. I don't think I could cope with being Jane Rizzoli. I'm just not tough enough!
5. If you could send some advice to your past self, what would you say?
"Don't waste so much time surfing the internet!"
6. Which of your book groupings (i.e. Rizzoli and Isles, Medical Mystery, Romantic Suspense) do you favor writing?
I've loved every single genre. Each has been a challenge, but each has also been fun to write. My favorites though have been my two historical mysteries (BONE GARDEN and PLAYING WITH FIRE.) Not only because the historical aspect was a challenge, but also because of the sheer emotional impacts those two novels had on me. Both those stories moved me to tears.
7. How did you get into writing?
,When I was 7 years old I already knew I wanted to be a writer and I wrote my first "book", which I bound together with needle and thread. All through college and medical school, I wrote short stories and articles, but it was only when I went on maternity leave with my first son that I finally sat down and started writing in earnest. After I sold a few novels to Harlequin Intrigue, I left medicine and I've never looked back.
8. Do you have a manuscript that you have written that was not published, that you wish would have been?
All my unpublished manuscripts should stay unpublished. I'm grateful they never saw the light of day.
9. If you weren't a writer what other career would you venture on?
I would love to be a composer. Or filmmaker. Or archaeologist. Actually, I can't choose.
10. Do you allow others to read your chapters before you are done with them or do you prefer to polish things and finish them before people read them?
I don't let anyone see my manuscript until it's finished and polished. My husband is my first reader, and then off it goes to my agent and editor. I hate letting anyone see my work in progress, because I know the stories and the characters are bound to change.